Dos and Don'ts of Email Marketing for Better SEO Results

Every day, an average person gets a bulk of emails. Do you think they read all of those? Obviously, they do not. Now, can you think of reasons that make them open an email vs. what makes them discard an email without even taking a peek at it?  

Curating compelling emails is harder than you think. However, we have got you covered! Let's create a list of some of the best email marketing practices for 2025. We'll discuss what you must do to attract audiences to open, read, click, and act. Also, we will see things marketers unintentionally do that damage their SEO-friendly email campaigns.

Elements of a Marketing Email

Before you take on the task of improving your email’s engagement through SEO, let’s brush up on our basics. Here are some of the elements of your marketing email that require a lot of careful thought:

Subject lines — because they are the first thing your subscribers might see

Pre-header text — a short preview of text that influences people to open or discard a message

Email Body — The plain text of your email that contains your message must be clear, concise, and compelling. It must be consistent with the subscriber's preferences and needs.

Interactive or Visual Elements — Although these are not compulsory, they can amp up any marketing email.

Call-to-Action (CTA) — A prominent call-to-action could serve as that one push some readers need to click through your website and take the desired action.  

Footer — While most marketers neglect this section, it can be a subtle way to include your brand's contact details and social media links without coming across as promotional.

Best Email Marketing Practices to Add into Your SEO Strategy

When the priority is improving email engagement for SEO, here are some of the best email marketing practices that will increase the flow of traffic to your website:

Set Clear Goals

It does not matter what platform — your marketing strategy will be vague without having a set of predefined goals. Just thinking that you want to take people from email to your website is not enough. You must know what you expect them to do when they finally reach the website. Do you want them to linger around, make a purchase, or sign up for something?

Having a clear goal in mind will help you tailor your strategy around it. For instance, your goal is to improve email engagement for SEO improvement. Each element of your email will subtly drive the users towards engagement.

Intriguing Subject Lines

Before reaching your website, the subscribers must open the emails. The only way to encourage them is by writing compelling subject lines.  

Start by sparking curiosity, teasing exclusive offers, or revealing a benefit without giving away too much. You can even add a touch of personalization by including the recipient's name or tailored recommendations. Lastly, experiment with urgency or scarcity because FOMO always sells. Use phrases such as 'Limited-Time Offer' and ' Only a Few Left.'

However, keep it short and impactful so it is visible on mobile devices. The ideal length for a subject line is under 50 characters.

Make it Personal

The art of personalization goes beyond the recipient's name. It includes sending relevant content on specific occasions.  

For instance, if you have subscribers from diverse ethnicities, you can send them emails to celebrate their cultures. Such practices will help you create an emotional connection with your consumers that works wonders for your email engagement and SEO.  

Moreover, you can also send specific recommendations based on their previous activity. Here, you can leverage the power of email automation and email list segmentation for better SEO and behavior-specific email campaigns.

Create Shareable Content

A huge requirement of developing SEO-friendly email campaigns is creating amazing content. From websites to emails, content will always propel your cause further.  

By creating valuable content, you can expand your reach and encourage your existing consumers to share your newsletters with other like-minded people. This way, you can increase your potential client base and improve the website's visitors.

Eventually, these visitors will end up purchasing something from your website and increasing your sales.

Clean Your Lists

The quality of your email lists might be a problem when you are measuring the results of your email marketing for SEO. Therefore, it is important to clean them up every once in a while.  

Remove the inactive users or create a separate segment to re-target them with unique strategies. Moreover, you might also want to keep an eye on email addresses that are spam or incorrect because they can impact your email deliverability.

Things to Completely Avoid While Using Email Marketing for SEO

While there are plenty of dos, there are some things that undermine your efforts. Here is the list of mistakes you should never make if you want to reap the maximum benefits of your email campaign:

Do Not Presume

The worst thing you can do while developing any marketing strategy is rely on guesswork. Do not assume the preferences, needs, and interests of your consumers without interacting with them. Track their activity across your websites and closely monitor their comments and feedback. It makes them feel heard and helps you form an excellent brand rapport.  

Moreover, you cannot launch a campaign and expect it to work out. You might have to A/B test different variations of your emails and check what resonates with your readers the best.

Do Not Spam

No one likes being on the recipient list of bulk emails. Generic emails send the impression that the brand does not put much effort into knowing its customers and their interests.

In this case, the power of email list segmentation for SEO cannot be denied. Instead of spamming your subscribers with multiple emails throughout the day, create segmented lists.  

You can create these segments on any criteria, but age, gender, and geographical presence are an excellent way to start.

Do Not Neglect the Design

Poorly displayed emails on phones can lead to missed opportunities and lower conversion rates. 

Develop a clean, visually appealing layout that captures attention and keeps readers engaged. Clear, bold headlines are good for focus, and concise text makes sure your point is quickly understood. Strategic use of white space enhances readability, while eye-catching images and consistent branding reinforce your message.  

Most importantly, a prominent, well-designed call-to-action (CTA) button, with compelling text and contrasting colors, makes it easy for recipients to take the next step.

Do Not Go for A Hard Sell

No one likes a pushy salesperson, and if your emails constantly scream “buy now,” you’re likely driving people away. In fact, this approach can quickly spike your unsubscribe rate.

In 2025, there is more to email marketing than just selling your services. If all you do is push products without offering any value, you’ll soon be seen as a nuisance. So, follow the 3:1 rule: for every promotional email, send three emails that educate, entertain, or provide value.

Do Not Use Spammy Trigger Words

Spam filters are quick to flag certain words, sending your emails straight to the junk folder. The harsh truth is that no matter how helpful your email might be if it includes spammy words in the subject line or body, your audience may never see it. Steer clear of terms like bonus, urgent, instant, free, unlimited, etc.

Final Word

To gain an email's true advantage, you don't just hit the send button. You must plan every move carefully to hit the bull's eye. Email marketing itself is a productive marketing channel, but you can tweak it to benefit your website's ranking in the search engine result pages.  

With the help of our best email marketing practices, you can make the best use of email marketing for SEO purposes. SEO-friendly email campaigns not only improve your organic reach but also shoot up your conversion rates. The key is to keep a keen eye on analytics and fine-tune your campaign accordingly.  

Resource:

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